According to the latest census forecasts, Seattle is now the fastest growing city in America. Between 2000 and 2014, we’ve added almost 80,000 residents inside the city limits. Judging by all the construction cranes around the city, we’re nowhere near finished.
And yet, despite all these new people, bus service in Seattle hasn’t expanded significantly in years. In fact, last month, King County Metro Transit was forced to cut service due to a revenue shortfall, after voters rejected a countywide transit funding ballot measure in April.
It should come as no surprise, then, that the buses are packed. On the most popular routes, buses are frequently so crowded they have to leave passengers at the stop. After 7 p.m., buses in many parts of the city become scarce, which makes it difficult for people who work nights and weekends — or even folks who just want to ride the bus for something other than commuting to work.
On Nov. 4, Seattle residents will have an opportunity to provide much-needed relief on crowded routes and expand evening and weekend service. Seattle Proposition 1 would raise approximately $40 million per year to fund bus service inside the city through a mix of sales taxes and a vehicle license fee. That translates to about 260,000 hours of new bus service.
Metro tried twice to expand service over the past 15 years. Each time, unfortunately, an economic recession has forced the agency to pull back. As a result, despite adding 80,000 residents and zero new miles of roadway, bus service levels are basically where they were in the ’90s. In addition, Metro’s reliance on sales taxes means huge swings in revenue from year to year. That unpredictability makes it harder to plan for growth.
Initially, this fall’s Prop. 1 was conceived as yet another last-minute effort to save existing service. Fortunately, thanks to yet more belt-tightening at Metro along with an improving economic climate, Seattle now has the opportunity to expand bus service for the first time in decades. That means more frequent, more reliable service on some of Seattle’s most congested routes.
A “yes” vote on Prop. 1 would expand service and improve reliability on dozens of Seattle’s core bus routes. More peak service would be added to several routes, while others would see more service in the evenings and weekends.
Prop. 1 isn’t perfect. The flat, $60 car-tab fee is less progressive than a Motor Vehicle Excise Tax (MVET), where the tax is a percentage of the car’s value.
But asking Seattleites to increase the MVET requires the blessing of the state legislature, which it has refused to authorize. Fortunately, Prop. 1 will exempt low-income car owners from the whole $60 fee.
Additionally, the way the law is written, the money can only be spent on bus service, not on capital improvements like improving bus stations or adding new bus lanes.
That’s regrettable, but there are other funding sources available for capital improvements.
Finally, with Seattle going its own way, the prospects of providing better bus service in the rest of King County are growing dim. As unfortunate as that is, the truth is that voters in Seattle seem to value transit more than their neighbors across the lake.
A growing city needs a growing transit service. Prop. 1 provides the additional revenue to give us the bus service we need.